Don’t Let Impostor Syndrome Derail Your Next Interview
It’s hard to shine in an interview when your capabilities, accomplishments, and creativity don’t jibe with the mental picture you have of yourself — so it’s important to quash this negative self-concept before you start interviewing to maximize your performance. The author offers three strategies to help quiet your inner critic and ace an interview: 1) Understand the goal of the interview process. Much of what will determine the success of an interview is social. When you remember this, it can help remove pressure from feeling like you need your interview to be technically perfect. 2) Practice, practice, practice. As with every skill, the more you do it, the better you’ll be at it; as your aptitude improves, so will your confidence level. 3) Calm your nerves. If you feel self-doubt while answering the interviewers’ questions, redirect their attention toward the specific challenges the employer is facing and how you would help overcome them. By making a point of shifting the interviewer’s focus in subtle ways, you’ll become less worried about your performance, allowing your best self to shine.
Job interviews can make even the most confident person feel vulnerable. No matter how well you’ve prepared, there’s no way to know for sure what questions the hiring team will ask, and if you’ll know the best way to answer them. If you’re unemployed during this process, you may have the added pressure of needing to do well in the interview to boost your chances of landing a job and a steady paycheck. These elements combined can contribute to a perfect storm of stress and feelings of helplessness throughout each step of the job interview process, with the stakes escalating each time you jump through another hoop.
As an executive coach, when I help clients prepare for interviews, many express that they feel undeserving of the position — like a fraud in mortal fear of being discovered to be inadequate. This was the case with my client Cliff (not his real name), who came to me for advice when he was interviewing for COO positions in start-up biotech companies. Having founded, grown, and successfully run his own company for eight years, Cliff was eminently qualified for a C-suite role. Why then was he plagued with self-doubt about applying for one?
What Cliff didn’t realize is that imposter syndrome affects almost everyone from time to time, even those who are wildly qualified for a particular job. These anxiety-inducing thoughts about one’s imagined lack of qualification can be particularly severe during times of professional vulnerability, such as when vying for a new job, which makes interview situations a trigger for this (usually temporary) condition.
As Gil Corkindale explained in a recent article, “‘Imposters’ suffer from self-doubt and a sense of intellectual fraudulence that override any feelings of success or external proof of their competence.” It’s hard to shine in an interview when your capabilities, accomplishments, and creativity don’t jibe with the mental picture you have of yourself — so it’s important to quash this negative self-concept before you start interviewing to maximize your performance. Here are three strategies that can help you quiet your inner critic and ace an interview:
Given the huge stake interviews have on whether you land the job you want, it’s no wonder that they provoke anxiety and, potentially, self-doubt. Even if your resume accurately reflects a strong track record of career achievements, a few hours of interaction with a recruiting team often determines whether you get hired or passed over. With this in mind, your goal throughout the interview process should be to stand out to the hiring team as someone who people want to work with.
Most of my clients, like Cliff, incorrectly assume that the key goal of interviewing is to master the technical details of the interview process, wowing the interviewers with statistics and percentages to show their subject-matter mastery. The fact is interviewers can tell from your application if you meet their technical requirements; what they don’t know is what it will be like to work with you. Much of what will determine the success of an interview is social. Yes, you need to be knowledgeable about your field, but you also need to help people envision you as a member of the team. When you remember this, it can help remove pressure from feeling like you need your interview to be technically perfect or go flawlessly, which can ease imposter syndrome.
As with every skill, the more you do it, the better you’ll be at it; as your aptitude improves, so will your confidence level. For the best results, don’t go into a job interview situation cold. A mock interview can help you prepare to answer typical interview questions clearly and concisely, and can also reveal areas where you need more work articulating your thoughts. This type of practice also enables you to hone in on specific strengths and accomplishments you can use to illustrate your points in the real interview.
For example, in practicing mock interviews with Cliff, I helped him figure out how to explain strategies he used to grow the company he founded to $30 million in annual revenue, and the steps he took to get there. Think of a mock interview as a dress rehearsal where you can flex your interview muscles in a safe environment, taming the imposter impulse.
Even when you’re well prepared for an interview and know that you’re perfectly qualified for the job, it can still be a nerve-racking experience to walk into a room full of strangers and prepare to be judged. To manage your jitters, start by controlling the controllable elements of your interview experience. If you’re worried about arriving punctually, for example, try taking multiple routes to your destination before the day of the interview to see which one gets you there fastest, with the least amount of traffic.
Managing nervousness around the interview itself is another area where you can be proactive. In Cliff’s case, he decided to build in extra time before the interview for a 10-minute walk around the block. During this scheduled pre-meeting stroll, Cliff planned to focus on deep breathing to help ratchet down his stress response. I recommended that while walking, he take a minute or two to inhale for a count of four seconds, hold his breath for two seconds, and then exhale for a count of four seconds. He found this process deeply calming, and it allowed him to enter the interview setting feeling more confident and settled.
Next, Cliff needed a tactic that he could use to manage his feelings during the interview itself, from the moment of his arrival at the company to engaging with the hiring committee. To take the focus off of his nerves, particularly in moments when he started to feel anxious or inadequate, I coached him to shift his attention to those around him, beginning with the people he met when he entered the reception area. He went in prepared to greet the receptionist with a smile when he arrived and to ask his interviewers how their day was going, making an effort to remember each person’s name. I suggested that he try a similar strategy if he began to feel self-doubt while answering the interviewers’ questions, redirecting his attention instead toward the specific challenges that the employer and team faced and how he could help overcome them. By making a point of shifting his focus in these subtle ways, Cliff became less worried about his performance, calming his nerves and allowing his best self to shine.
Ultimately, the best way to dispel self-doubt, insecurity, and trepidation during the interview process is to understand the needs of the organization and hiring manager by putting yourself in their shoes. By articulating the team’s needs as you understand them, and telling a story of how you’ve solved similar problems, you’ll build your confidence and place yourself head-and-shoulders above the competition.
Susan Peppercorn is an executive career transition coach and speaker. She is the author of Ditch Your Inner Critic at Work: Evidence-Based Strategies to Thrive in Your Career. Numerous publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, the Boston Globe, and SELF Magazine have tapped her for career advice. You can download her free Career Fit Self-Assessment and 25 Steps to a Successful Career Transition.
Don’t Let Impostor Syndrome Derail Your Next Interview
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